The appointment of Arun Goel as Election Commissioner was questioned by the Supreme Court today due to its “urgency” and “tearing hurry.”
The Attorney General, R. Venkataramani, fiercely disagreed with the views and demanded that the entire Goel appointment matter be thoroughly investigated.
Arun Goel’s appointment as Election Commissioner was first discussed by a five-judge Constitution panel, led by Justice KM Joseph, who noted, “What sort of assessment is this? Although we are criticising the procedure rather than Arun Goel’s qualifications,”
The Centre, through Attorney General Venkataramani, vehemently urged the bench to refrain from making observations before thoroughly investigating the entire issue pertaining to the appointment process as the bench questioned the “lightning speed” with which Mr. Goel was appointed as an Election Commissioner and the fact that his file did not even move within departments for 24 hours.
Attorney Prashant Bhushan attempted to address the bench during the hearing when the Attorney General was speaking. The top law enforcement official asked Mr. Bhushan to hold his tongue for a little while.
The Chief Election Commissioner and several other election officials were to be appointed using a collegium-like system, but the Supreme Court postponed judgement on those arguments and ordered the parties to submit written arguments within five days.
Mr. Venkataramani was informed by Justice Ajay Rastogi, who is also a member of the bench, “You must pay close attention when the court speaks and respond to its inquiries. We are focusing on the process rather than specific applicants.”
According to the Attorney General, he must respond to the court’s inquiries.
The Supreme Court ruled that the 1985-batch IAS officer received his voluntary retirement from service in a single day, that the Law Ministry cleared his file in a single day, that a panel of four names was presented to the Prime Minister, and that Mr. Goel’s name received the President’s approval in a single day.
Justices Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and CT Ravikumar were also on the bench, and they declared that none of the four individuals on the panel had been “specifically hand-picked” by the Law Minister in order to serve a six-year term.
Mr. Venkataramani stated that there is a selection process and criteria in place, and it is not feasible for the government to monitor each officer’s performance in order to make sure he serves out his six-year term.
An Election Commissioner may serve for a period of six years or until they reach the age of 65, whichever comes first, according to the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991.
The Attorney General noted in reference to Arun Goel’s appointment that it is his resume and not the voluntary retirement that is being a subject of contention.
According to the bench, the 1991 Act specifies that the Election Commissioner’s term is six years, and the government must make sure that the incumbent fills the position for the full allotted time.
The Supreme Court declared that it is “struggling” to understand why and how the Law Minister chose a panel of four candidates who would not serve out the required six-year term.
The original file of Arun Goel’s appointment as an Election Commissioner was reviewed by the Supreme Court, which ordered the Centre to provide it to the bench on Wednesday.
The top court examined Arun Goel’s appointment as an Election Commissioner on Wednesday. The court had requested the original records pertaining to his appointment from the Centre for review in order to determine whether there had been any “hanky panky.”
The Supreme Court said it wanted to know if the appointment process was as “hunky dory” as the government claimed after rejecting the Center’s challenges to its order requiring the production of the original file.
Election commissioner Arun Goel was chosen on November 19; he is an IAS officer from the Punjab cadre.
Mr. Goel would be in line to succeed Rajiv Kumar as CEC when he steps down in February 2025. He would have served on the Election Commission for more than five years in total.
He will serve on the election panel alongside Anup Chandra Pandey and Rajiv Kumar.
The Election Commission (EC) has a vacancy after Sushil Chandra, the previous CEC, retired in May.
Prior to recently, Arun Goel served as the Ministry of Heavy Industries’ secretary. On November 18, he voluntarily announced his resignation. He has also worked at the Union’s ministry of culture.
